LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



Shell 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



REVIVALS 



AND 



REVIVAL WORK, 



REV. W. t! HOGG. 



*'WUt thou not revive us again that thy people may rejoice in thee?" 

Psahn Ixxxv, 6, 



BUFFALO, N. Y.: 

Published for the Author. 
1890. 







^9S 







Copyright by 

-Rev. W, T HoGG.- 

January, 1890. 



TO ALL THOSE 

who lament the generally 

prevailing declension 

of spirituality throughout the land^ 

and who, in their deep 

heart-yearnings for a returning 

manifestation of 

Pentecostal life and power 

in the visible Church of Christy 

are crying out, 

like IsraeVs prophet of old, 

"O LORD, REVIVE THY WORK;' 

this little volume is affectionately 

Inscribed. 



PREFACE. 

• 

The subject matter of this little volume was pre- 
pared originally as a new chapter for the author's work 
on Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, and, as here pro- 
duced, was printed from plates made for that work. 
Ov/ing to this fact, the form of its present appearance is 
different from what it otherwise would have been, and 
the foot notes, some of which refer to the preceding 
chapters of the larger work, necessarily appear in this 
volume. Of course, an exhaustive treatment of so im- 
portant and broad a subject as that which forms our 
title would be impossible within the limits of so small a 
volume as this. Trusting, however, that, with all its 
imperfections, it will be found to contain some inspiring 
thoughts for devout readers, and some valuable hints 
and suggestions to those who aspire to be useful in win- 
ning souls, this unpretentious contribution to the litera- 
ture of revivals is now commended to the Christian 
public by 

THE AUTHOR. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 
The Law of Religious Progress 9 

CHAPTER II. 
The Analogy of Nature 13 

CHAPTER III. 
Principles Respecting Religions Excitements 17 

CHAPTER IV. 
False Religions Excitements 22 

CHAPTER V. 
Natnre of a Trne Revival 26 

CHAPTER VI. 
Hinderances to Revivals 32 

CHAPTER VII. 
Means of Promoting Revivals 38 

CHAPTER VIII. 
The Pastor in Revival Work 47 

CHAPTER IX. 
After the Revival 5t 

CHAPTER X, 
Conclusion 61 



CHAPTER I. 

The Law of Religious Progress. 

Revivals of religion are by no means of modern 
origin. Their history^ is coeval with that of revealed 
religion itself. They are clearly recognized and 
approved in the sacred Scriptures. They breathe in 
the prayers of ancient Israel, as when the Psalmist 
exclaims, "Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy 
people may rejoice in thee?" or, as in Habakkuk's 
ardent cry, "O Lord, revive thy work." They mur- 
mur in the cheering and assuring strains of prophecy, 
as when Isaiah sings: ''The wilderness and the solitary 
place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall 
rejoice and blossom as the rose," etc.;* or, as when Joel 
predicts, eight hundred years in advance, the glorious 
scenes of Pentecost.f They form to a great extent the 
burden of Scripture promises: as w^hen Jehovah says, 
"I will pour, water upon him that is thirsty, and 
floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my Spirit 
upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring; 
and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows 
by the water courses ;"J or, as in Ezekiel's words, 
''Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be 
inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I 
will increase them with men like a flock." § 

* Chapter xxxv. t Joel ii. 28-32. t Isa. xliv. 3, 4. § Ezek. xxxtI. 87. 



lO REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK. 

The progress of religion in all ages has been due 
in large measure to those great awakenings, or seasons 
of extraordinary religious interest called revivals. 
Every great epoch of religious history and of spiritual 
life has been ushered in by such an awakening. Evi- 
dence of this abounds alike in sacred and in secular 
history. The Scriptures furnish numerous and striking 
instances of revival manifestation and reformation. 
We need only to call to mind the days of Moses and 
Samuel, of David and Solomon, of Asa and Jehosha 
phat, of Hezekiah and Josiah, of Ezra and of John the 
Baptist, in order to be reminded of the fundamental 
relation of revivals to religious progress under the Old 
Testament economy. And we need only to refer to 
Pentecost to be reminded that Christianity itself was 
born of a great religious awakening, in which thou- 
sands were converted in a day. The apostolic age 
witnessed a perpetuation of the Pentecost revival; and 
the radiation of its influence into all the populous 
regions of the Roman world. The rushing fires of 
Pentecost caught in Samaria, and, upon the dispersion 
of the disciples occasioned by the persecution that arose 
about Stephen, the revival flame broke out in the 
remoter parts of Judea, and rapidly spread abroad until 
it had extended as far as the territories of Greece. In 
fact the whole progress of religion, so far as it is 
recorded in the Bible, seems to have been due to the 
influence of revivals. 

Nor has the case been otherwise in the later stages 
of the church's history. She has always progressed by 
revival steps, or failed to progress at all. ''Take away 
that part of her history which appertains to revivals, 
and you have about annihilated her history." That 



THE LAW OF RELIGIOUS PROGRESS. II 

period of church history which was most barren of 
spiritual progress, and most proHfic in religious error 
and in the growth of ecclesiastical despotism, was the 
period known as the Dark Ages, — a period in which 
revivals were comparatively unknown. The Reform- 
ation which awoke all Europe from the night-mare of 
the ages was born of a religious revival; and the pure 
faith of the gospel, which was revived under Luther, 
has been kept alive and propagated by the same law. 
The flame of Reformation fire "caught in France, 
Denmark, Holland, Switzerland, the Low Countries, 
the mountains of Scotland, the north of Ireland, and in 
Britain, by the revival law. And such has continued to 
be the fact in these countries ever since. At an early 
day, in this country under the ministrations of White- 
field, Coke, and Asbury, and their coadjutors; also, 
Brainerd, the Edwardses, Davies, and the Tennents, 
the church was saved from all the icy horrors of form- 
alism by means of revivals. And but for the revivals 
that have characterized the first half of the present 
century, where had been the evangelism of America?"* 

The fact of the matter is, revivals are necessary to 
religious growth and progress. This is the law of relig- 
ious life alike in individual experience and in the history 
of the church. Without revivals religion would soon 
petrify into mere forms; the church would become an 
ice palace; evangelism and missionary zeal would cease; 
and Protestantism, instead of being the embodiment 
and conservator of vital godliness and spiritual liberty, 
would soon become as fossilized and unprogressive as 
Romanism itself. Despoil the church of the trophies 



*Help8 to The Promotion of Revivals, pp, 212, 213. 



12 REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK. 

she has won through revival effort within a single 
generation past, and she would have but little left. 
Cause her to cease from all revival effort for a gener- 
ation more, and that little would entirely disappear. 
Only by the law of revivals is her growth and progress 
possible. When she experiences these gracious visita- 
tions no more, Ichabod will be written on her wa'^^s, 
and the glory will have departed from her. 



CHAPTER II. 

The Analogy of Nature. 

Revivals of religion are in perfect accord with the 
analogy of nature. The v^orld in which we live is a 
world of revivals. Throughout the realms of nature, 
life in all its forms is governed by the revival law. 
Every recurring springtime is a general revival in 
nature — the bringing forth of new life where wintry 
death has reigned. Barren branches put forth their 
foliage and blossoms, as indications that a new life has 
touched and filled them. The germination and growth 
of every seed is a revival in nature. "That which thou 
sowest is not quickened except it die." It dies that it 
may live a new life. Alternations of growth and 
decline may be observed everywhere. Nature is 
progressive, but revival is nature's law of progress, as 
it is also the law of progress in religious life. 

This is the general law alike in the realms of 
physical, intellectual and spiritual life. What is true 
of individuals, in this respect, is true also in the experi- 
ence of the body of men — of communities, churches 
and nations. However any individual may keep ''the 
even tenor of his way", he experiences at times a 
particular impulse or quickening, which gives him a 
forward start, and awakens him to the consciousness of 

13 



14 REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK. 

a new stimulus, a new energy, and new possibilities in 
life. So with communities of men; there com.e seasons 
of awakening, in which the ordinary routine and quiet 
of life are interrupted, the public mind is aroused to a 
deeper sense of the meaning of human life and destiny, 
and the action of mind on mind is intensified in a high 
degree. A revival of religion is such an interruption 
of the highest order. It is extraordinary, but not 
abnormal in its character. It is not a derangement of 
the divine order, but rather a fulfilment of it. It is not 
at variance with either the analogy of nature, or the 
conception and constitution of the Christian church, but 
in fullest accord with both. 

It is according to the very nature of things, there- 
fore, that some such phenomena as revivals of relig- 
ion should always be looked for in the church, if 
the church be not unnaturally taught respecting this 
matter. And it is a matter to be profoundly regretted, 
that, under the pretense of doing honor to religion, men 
have so often and sadly divorced it from principles of 
sound philosophy. There is in many quarters a con- 
servatism respecting the matter of special revival 
seasons and efforts that seems better content to witness 
no accessions to the church, no spiritual growth, no 
aggressive efforts at evangelization, no excitement of 
religious fervor and zeal than that these things should 
be realized through the employment of those extraor- 
dinary and somewhat irregular efforts which involve a 
temporary interruption of the ordinary routine of 
ecclesiastical procedure. All this is through fear of 
undue excitement and unfavorable reaction. 

That abuses and extravagances frequently accom- 
pany these seasons of religious excitement is admitted; 



THE LAW OF RELIGIOUS PROGRESS. I5 

and that the effects of that reHgious ultraism which is 
always a possible accompaniment of thorough religious 
awakenings are very difficult to be counteracted is also 
readily allowed. But shall we prefer formalism, stag- 
. nation, and death, because life carries with it the possi- 
bility and often the actual manifestation of irregularity 
and extravagance? By no means. "Better a living 
dog than a dead lion." Rather should we say as John 
Wesley once did concerning certain extravagances 
accompanying some of the revivals in his day: "Lord, 
if thou canst work the same works without the defects, 
do so; but, if not, then. Lord, work the same work^ 
It is often said by those who look with more or less 
disapprobation upon special revival work, that "the 
church ought always to be in a state of revival." Such 
a statement may sound well, but, when urged by way 
of objection to special revival seasons, it is wanting in 
philosophical soundness and force. Special religious 
excitements are not only in perfect harmony with the 
established order of things in the natural world, but 
also with the true philosophy of human nature. Man's 
spiritual emotions, like every other class of emotions, 
are controlled by laws similar to those which control 
the winds and waves. They rise to a high pitch and 
then recede to gather strength and come again with 
greater energy. As a matter of fact it is not the law 
of human nature to be equally excited upon the same 
subject at all times, no matter how momentous that 
subject may be. Nor is it the law of human nature to 
be moved with the same ease and to the same degree 
at all times, even by the same subject, and with all 
things equal as to the mode of its presentation. In 
fact, an equal degree of susceptibility to excitement at 



l6 REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK. 

all times, and a ceaseless and unvarying interest upon 
the same subject would, in the very nature of things, 
render all revivals forever impossible. The life of the 
individual, the community, the church, would present 
nothing but the manifestation of ever unbroken monot- 
ony. Surely this would be contrary to nature, which, 
though governed by rigidly uniform laws, nevertheless 
displays infinite variety and most marked contrasts in 
the fulfilment of the same offices. The summers differ 
in temperature and length. The rain-fall is much 
greater in one season than it is in another. Winters 
are not all equally long and cold. Winds do not 
always blow from the same direction nor with the same 
velocity. Not all cloudless summer nights distil the 
same amount of dew. In fact, there is no monotony in 
nature. And now to ask why the church is not always 
in a state of revival, is as absurd as to ask why all 
summers are not of equal temperature and length, all 
winters of equal severity, and all rains and drouths of 
equal continuance. Revival is the law of progress 
aUke in nature and in grace. 



CHAPTER HI. 

General Principles Respecting Religious 
Excitements. 

It has been very correctly said that, "Ministerial 
wisdom may generally be estimated by one's principles 
and practice concerning excitements on the subject of 
religion. From want of will or capacity, some never 
distinguish between those which are genuine and those 
which are spurious. They have witnessed some 
excitements in which enthusiasm was the dominant 
quality; and so they condemn all earnest and general 
attention to religion. This is unphilosophical and 
unscriptural. Others suppose all great engagedness in 
religion to be commendable, even if men are serving 
God with wild and violent passions." This extreme 
may be less common, but it is by no means less danger- 
ous, than the other. The most careful discrimination 
and the most judicious management are necessary 
concerning these matters. 

As an aid to determining the right course of action 
concerning a subject of so great importance and diffi- 
culty, the following observations, borrowed in part 
from Dr. Plumer's ''Helps and Hints to Pastoral 
Theology," may be of considerable value: 
2 17 



l8 REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK. 

( I ) The human mind is so constituted that it must 
be excited in order to act. In fact, excitement is nothing* 
more nor less than that state of mental activity which is 
produced by the operation of certain motives upon the 
mind. 

(2) Although man is an active being, yet his action 
is produced by his volitions, and his volitions depend 
upon his affections — desires or aversions — and these 
affections are nothing but excited feelings. 

(3) The energ}' of one's actions is always in 
proportion to the strength or intensity of the feelings 
excited. 

(4) All true religion has its seat in the affections, 
or, which is substantially the same thing, in excited 
feelings. What else are the fear of God, love to God 
and man, peace in believing, and joy in the Holy Ghost, 
but affections of the mind w^hich are excited by corres- 
ponding motives? 

(5) Purely religious affections can never be too 
greatly excited. In this matter capacity is the only 
limit of duty. 

(6) Such is the relation between soul and body and 
the reciprocal influence of each upon the other, that 
all excitement of the mind produces corresponding 
effects upon the body. Sorrow wastes the physical 
vigor. Fear blanches the countenance. Anger quick- 
ens the pulse and flushes the face. Joy transfigures the 
countenance into radiance, and sends a health-giving 
glow through the whole physical frame. Religious, as 
well as natural emotion, produces sensible and visible 
effects upon the body. Moses was so excited at the 
manifestations of God's holiness and majesty on Mt. 



RESPECTING RELIGIOUS EXCITEMENTS, I9 

Sinai, that he said, "I exceedingly fear and quake." * 
David, in giving expression to rehgious joy, ''danced 
before the Lord w^ith all his might. "-j- Jeremiah 
became "like a drunken man," J in the presence of 
Jehovah. Habakkuk's "lips quivered ; rottenness enter- 
ed into his bones, and he trembled in himself." § Paul, 
in his third-heaven rapture, became unconscious of his 
bodily conditions and surroundings. || And v^hen John 
the Revelator, saw the glorified Son of Man, he 
describes the effect it produced upon him, by saying, 
"And w^hen I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead."** 
Nor is there any reason to suppose that these bodily 
agitations were at all improper or injurious. They were 
the natural effects of highly excited religious emotions. 
Similar effects may be produced by similar causes in 
any age and in any country. Nor should we seek to 
avoid in ourselves or oppose in others those phj^sical 
effects which are produced by purely religious emotions. 
(7) Certain dangers are to be carefully guarded 
against, however, in connection with those physical 
manifestations which purely religious excitemiCnt may 
naturally and legitimately produce. The first of these 
dangers is that of forgetting that precisely similar 
effects may be produced by causes which are very 
remote from religious excite7nent ^ and that, therefore, 
these bodily effects are of themselves no evidence 
that a so-called religious excitement is a genuine 
work of God. The second danger is that of sub- 
stituting these physical effects for genuine piety. 
Such phenomena are by no means essential marks nor 
infallible tokens of spirituality. They can never be 



* Heb. xii. 21. t See 2. Sam. vi. U-22. % Jer. Axiii. 9. § Hab. 
iii. 16. II 2. Cor. xii. 2. ** Kev. i. 17. 



20 REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK. 

substituted for integrity of heart and righteousness of 
Hfe. A third danger in connection with these bodily- 
agitations is, that they are liable to become efidemic; 
and when they do they are generally regarded as 
supernatural visitations, thereby becoming a fruitful 
source of fanaticism in spirit and in practice. In view 
of these things it is certainly not wise to encourage 
such manifestations by placing any kind of premium 
upon them. Nor should they ordinarily be discouraged 
and resisted . If, however, they are in any case put in 
competition with true spirituality, those having the 
oversight of the Lord's work should, with mildness and 
wisdom, but with courage and firmness, restrain them, 
and direct the erring ones into a more excellent way. 

(8) From the foregoing considerations we may 
reasonably conclude that ministers of the gospel are not 
justly censurable as enthusiasts because these bodily ef- 
fects occur under their labors, provided they preach only 
reasonable and evangelical truth, and maintain such a 
spirit and decorum as become the gospel of Christ. 
Such effects occurred under the ministry of Paul and 
Silas, Wesley and Whitefield, Edwards and Finney; 
and, in fact, they are very likely to appear under the 
earnest and faithful preaching of Scriptural truth by 
any minister, in any age, and in any country. 

(9) Notwithstanding all that has been said in favor 
of those religious excitements which are likely in a 
greater or less degree to produce various physical man- 
ifestations, let it ever be remembered that nothing is to 
be more dreaded than a spirit of wild fanaticism. It 
is sometimes claimed that formalism is a greater evil; 
but such is not the case. It is easier to revive a whole 
church of formalists, than to control one genuine 



RESPECTING RELIGIOUS EXCITEMENTS. 21 

fanatic. Thoughtless persons sometimes assert that 
"wild-fire is better than no fire." The statement is 
utterly foolish. As well might we contend that a house 
on fire is better than no fire in the house. Who can 
fail to see the absurdity of such a statement? Where 
there is no fire a fire may be kindled that will be pro- 
ductive of much good and no harm ; but where there 
is wild-fire or fanaticism it will destroy or seriously 
impair every prospect of good, and produce wide- 
spread confusion and disaster. 

(lo) The minister who would maintain the honor of 
Jehovah and the purity of religion, miust learn to dis- 
criminate between genuine religious emotion and 
popular delusion; between the saving effects of purely 
religious excitement and the workings of a distempered 
imagination. The freedom of the Spirit should always 
be encouraged, but the vagaries and fanatical ravings 
of shallow or distempered minds should be as firmly 
resisted. 



CHAPTER IV. 

False Religious Excitements. 

It has already been stated that purely religious 
emotions cannot be too greatly excited. In fact, every 
motive that can be drawn from heaven, earth, and hell 
should be urged in order to the excitement of such 
emotions in the minds of men. Such excitement is 
absolutely indispensable to a revival of God's w^ork in 
any church or community. And, if the emotions 
excited are purely religious, no serious consequences 
need be apprehended, no matter how intense the excite- 
ment may become. But excitements which are not 
purely religious are possible and somewhat frequent 
accompaniments of revival efforts; and it is from these 
spurious excitements that the most serious consequences 
are to be feared, if they are allowed to run their full 
course. Hence every pastor should be able to discrim- 
inate between a genuinely religious awakening and 
those false excitements which often pass for revivals 
of religion, but which, when their course is run, are 
found to have demoralized the religious condition 
of the church rather than to have improved it. It may 
be proper, therefore, before proceeding further to note 
a few of the characteristics which distinguish false 
religious excitements: 

22 



KAJ.St: KKLIGIOUS EXCITEMENTS. 2^ 

1. One of the invariable marks of a spurious relig- 
ious excitement is its iri^esistible cha7'acter. Such 
excitements, when once under vray, generally become 
entirely unmanageable. There is an element of obsti- 
nacy in those who are their principal subjects and 
abettors that challenges all authority, and resists every 
effort at persuasion. They misinterpret their own self- 
will as a divine impulse which it is dangerous to resist. 
To plead for the genuineness of such an excitement 
because of its intense and irresistible character is most 
unsound reasoning. The Jewish Sanhedrin w^as in- 
tensely excited when, as a religious measure, it con- 
demned the Son of God as a malefactor, and procured 
the sentence of his crucifixion. And Judas Iscariot 
was excited w^hen he threw down the money received 
for betraying his master, and confessed that he had 
betrayed innocent blood. But he went away and 
hanged himself. So the intensity of an excitement is 
no proof of its genuineness, and may be the very 
reverse of this. 

2. Excitements which have to do principally or 
exclusively with moving the animal syfufathies are 
spurious, in so far as they partake of this character. In 
many so-called revivals the appeals are almost exclu- 
sively made to the sympathies of the hearers rather 
than to their hearts and consciences. Nervous sensi- 
bility, pouring itself out in floods of tears, paroxysms 
of anguish, and mingled groanings, shoutings, and 
bodily agitations, has often been mistaken for convic- 
tion, or conversion, or both. Yet all these things may 
occur in one who has no clear, abiding and intelligent 
conviction of sin whatever, and much less any of the 
marks of a true conversion. These phenomena may, 



24 REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK. 

and doubtless often do, occur in those who are genu- 
inely converted ; but the proof of their awakening and 
conversion will be in other things rather than in these 
sympathetic accompaniments. A judicious pastor, who 
is acquainted with the history of such movements, and 
with the laws of the human mind, will ever guard 
against unduly working upon the mere sympathies and 
passions of his hearers, knowing that no permanent im- 
pressions for good can be produced thereby, and that the 
most serious consequences are liable to ensue from such 
a course, both to individuals and to the church of God. 

3. As a counterfeit is always made to resemble the 
genuine coin as nearly as possible, so the subjects of 
false religious excitements generally profess to have a 
high degree of spiritual enjoyment. The stony - 
ground hearers received the word of the kingdom with 
joy. But they had no root, no stability of character, 
in themselves. Herod heard John gladly, and did many 
things that were required; and yet he caused the 
beheading of John, at last, because of the faithfulness 
of his ministry. The devil knows how to please as 
well as to disgust people in matters of religion. And 
surely nothing is better calculated to gratify the carnal 
mind than a strong delusion that leads one to regard 
himself as a Christian, while his lusts are undisturbed, 
and carnality is as surely intrenched and thoroughly 
dominant in his heart as ever. "There is an indefina- 
ble sorcery in fanaticism." An inspired apostle has as- 
sured us that even "Satan himself is transformed into an 
angel of light." It is no strange thing, therefore, that 
even very bad men should profess to have abundant joy. 

4. Those religious excitements are to be regarded 
with suspicion which influence their subjects less in 



FALSE RELIGIOUS EXCITEMENTS. 25 

their private relations than they do in the social 
and public gatherings in the church. "When any 
man or number of men can pray fervently and very 
earnestly in a social meeting, yet when alone have few 
few words or little earnestness and less fervor, they may 
know that their hearts have deceived them. A great 
prophet teaches that when a revival should occur under 
the reign of Messias, it should drive men and women 
to their closets, to mourn apart.' " * — Zech. xii. 10-14. 

5. Finally, all religious excitements which make 
men careless or superficial in the matter of self-exam- 
ination; vain, conceited, boastful, or rude in spirit and 
behavior; desirous of opposition and disappointed if it 
is not provoked ; reckless, extravagant and needlessly of- 
fensive in their methods of presenting the truth; all such 
excitements are spurious manifestations, and unwor- 
thy of being called revivals. They are productive of 
more harm than good. And probably nothing has 
done more to bring genuine revival work into reproach 
and disfavor with sensible people than these spurious 
imitations. 

The remedy for such errors and follies, however, is 
not to be found in cold and heartless indifference, but 
rather in deep spirituality, and in wise, earnest, aggres- 
sive and faithful engagement in the promotion of true 
revivals. 



*Dr. W. S. Plumer. 



CHAPTER V. 



The Nature of a True Revival. 



A genuine revival of religion is never the result of 
accident. Revivals never happen. They are gov- 
erned by no arbitrary law. As w^ell might one expect 
to get rich by dreaming or to master the arts and 
sciences without thought or study, as to expect a revival 
of religion to occur without appropriate efforts to secure 
it. There are certain laws governing this whole mat- 
ter, in the practical ignoring of which a revival is no 
more possible than is a harvest without plowing and 
seed-sowing, and in the proper observance of which 
wise and faithful efforts can seldom utterly fail of 
success. 

Nor is a revival of religion a miracle^ as that word 
is generally understood. There is, indeed, a supernat- 
ural and divine side to every true revival; but the 
supernatural and divine power is realized only in con- 
nection with human agency and the employment of 
natural means. It is in this much as it is in agriculture. 
A higher law, a powerful spiritual agency, operates in 
connection with the natural means and human efforts 

26 



NATURE OF A TRUE REVIVAL. 2*] 

employed for the production of a harvest. Neither 
agency, however, will produce the desired result alone. 
President Finney says, "The connection between the 
right use of means for a revival and a revival is as 
philosophically sure, as between the right use of means 
to raise grain and a crop of grain. * * * * 

*****! believe there are fewer 
cases of failure in the moral than in the natural world." 

A true revival may be defined as a religious awak- 
ening among the people^ produced by the Spirit oj 
God^ through the agency of the church co-operating in 
the use of appropriate meaits^ and which results in the 
spiritual quickening of believers and in the conversion 
of sinners. 

The word revival implies its starting point. It 
intimates the existence of some life, and a possibility of 
increasing and intensifying it. It intimates the ex- 
istence of things spiritual, though they may be ready to 
die. The true revival begins in the church, and, through 
the quickening of the church i^ her individual member- 
ship and in all her activities, reaches out and exerts its 
saving influence upon a perishing world. Under its 
quickening impulse believers become blessedly con- 
scious of an increase of love to God, faith in his word, 
growth in all the graces of the Spirit, solicitude for the 
salvation of lost men, and a willingness to enter upon 
earnest and aggressive personal work for their immedi- 
ate conversion to God. The church thus "becomes a 
quickened mass of spiritual life, and the very atmos- 
phere becomes electrical with spiritual influences. The 
social principle is brought into action, and man becomes 
a missionary to his fellow, neighbor, child, or kinsman, 
under circumstances of very great advantage, the Holy 



28 REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK. 

Ghost being present to impart power from on high, 
just in proportion to our faith and effort." God is the 
author of all true revivals, but man is a responsible 
agent in their promotion. The power that produces 
them is all of God, but the means for their promotion 
are within the reach of the church, without whose co- 
operation in the employment of those means, a revival 
will not occur. 

Any conception of a revival, therefore, which does 
not take into account the inter-working of both human 
and divine agencies and the employment of appropriate 
means, must certainly be a false conception. As in the 
production of a harvest, God and man must work to- 
gether, so in the production of a revival there must be 
the co-operation of man with God — a Paul to plant 
and an Apollos to water, while "God giveth the 
increase." 

The only power adequate to the production of a 
genuine revival is the spirit of God. Human efforts and 
mechanical means, without the presence and operation 
of the Holy Spirit are wholly inadequate to the accom- 
plishment of such a work. "Not by might nor by 
power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord." The agency 
of the church is requisite, to be sure; but the church, to 
be efficient in the promulgation of truth and in the 
salvation of men must be "endued with power 
from on high." To the primitive disciples the Master 
said, "Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost 
is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me 
both in Jerusalem and in Judea, and in Samaria, and 
unto the uttermost parts of the earth." The gift of the 
Holy Ghost as an "enduement of power from on high," 
therefore, is the only adequate furnishing of the minis- 



NATURE OF A TRUE REVIVAL. 29 

try and of the church for successfully carrying on the 
work of God. 

But while it rests with the "Lord of the harvest" 
alone to give or to withhold prosperity, he has chosen 
to honor and employ human instrumentality in this 
great and important work. Accordingly he has so ar- 
ranged it that, whenever his people co-operate with 
him in the employment of suitable means, their own 
spiritual quickening, and, as a result, the awakening 
and conversion of others, may be expected to follow; 
while such a visitation of God's grace can not reasona- 
bly be hoped for without necessary preparation and 
the employment of proper means, on the part of the 
church. 

We must insist upon the importance of considering 
revivals as the result of the use of appropriate means, 
so far as man's part in the work is concerned. "If we 
consider them as miracles — as occurring arbitrarily — as 
being confined to particular seasons of the year, we are 
in great danger of losing sight of our responsibility in 
the case; of waiting for a revival instead of working 
for it. The Holy Ghost is always ready, but man» 
though always equally needy, "is not always equally 
ready." The fact is, the responsibility in this whole 
matter rests very largely upon the ministry and the 
church, if not wholly so. True, it is not our efforts 
that bring the blessing, as the power to bless and save 
belongs to God alone; yet it is equally true that, with- 
out our efforts, and without the use of proper means, 
the' blessing will never be realized. 

This being the Scriptural character and the true 
philosophy of revivals, it logically follows that such 



30 REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK. 

awakenings are generally possible of realization in any 
place, at any season, and under the labors of any minis- 
ter, on condition of the faithful, judicious and diligent 
employment of proper means. Some have stated the 
case much more strongly than this, maintaining that, 
on the fulfilment of the foregoing conditions, a genuine 
revival of religion will always occur under the labors 
of any minister. And, if this premise is correct, it log- 
ically follows that, if a minister fails to witness a 
revival on his field of labor, he alone is responsible for 
the failure, which has as frequently been alleged. 
Man}'' plausible things may be urged in support of this 
theory, nevertheless it is contradicted alike by the rec- 
ords of Scripture, history and the experience of many 
faithful and eminent servants of God in more recent 
times. Did not the ancient prophets, did not Jesus, and 
did not the early apostles of our Lord use the proper 
means faithfully, judiciously and diligently? And did 
revivals of religion invariably follow? Did not Isaiah 
exclaim, in view of his failure to move men, "Who 
hath believed our report?" Did not Jeremiah cry out, 
"Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fount- 
ain of tears, that I might weep day and night over the 
slain of the daughter of my people ?" Did not even Jesus 
fail of accomplishing many mighty works in Nazareth 
because of the people's unbelief? And was not Paul's 
experience greatly varied in respect to success in the 
conversion of men? Who will have the effrontery to 
say that in any of these cases failure was due to a want 
of faithful, judicious, and diligent use of appropriate 
means? The plain facts in the case before us are these: 
As a general rule the revival of God's work in a 



NATURE OF A TRUE REVIVAL. 31 

marked degree will follow the faithful, judicious, and 
diligent use of appropriate means; but, to this general 
rule there are exceptions, such as justify the statement 
that ministers are not always responsible for their fail- 
ure to realize revivals under their labors. 

Noah's ministry of one hundred and twenty years 
resulted in the salvation of none outside his own family, 
and yet it was a faithful and heaven-approved ministry. 
''By it he condemned the world, and became heir of the 
righteousness which is by faith." Ezekiel was com- 
manded to warn the people ''whether they will hear, or 
whether they will forbear." And when he thundered 
the truth of God in their ears, they remained unmoved, 
and said, "Ah! Lord God, he speaketh in parables." 

Fellow-servant of God, if thy labors seem barren of 
success, look for the cause of failure in thyself first of 
all; and it is probable that the secret of failure will be 
discovered in this search, if it be honestly and thor- 
oughly made. But if, upon careful self-examination, 
thine own heart assures thee that thou hast been faith- 
ful to God, to men, and to thyself, be not discouraged, 
even if no fruit of thy prayers, and toils, and tears be 
visible. Sometimes in the plan and purpose of God one 
"soweth and another reapeth." It may be that thou art 
sowing and though the fruit of thy labors do not imme- 
diately appear, that others may in the future enter into 
thy labors, reaping where thou hast sown, "that both he 
that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together." 



CHAPTER VI. 



HiNDERANCES TO REVIVALS. 

Satan is the arch-adversary of God and man. As 
he contended with Michael the arch-angel, resisted 
Joshua the high priest, and hindered the apostle Paul, 
so he ever seeks to interpose barriers in the way of the 
evangelization of the world which is under his power 
and dominion. Hence there are always hinderances to 
be met and overcome in doing the Lord's work ; and if 
we hesitate to engage in revival effort until all the bar- 
riers have disappeared we will not be likely ever to 
witness a revival in connection with our own labors, 
however greatly we may desire it. It is our duty to 
search out and remove, if possible, the hinderances to 
success in revival work; and when, in any considerable 
degree, these hinderances have been removed, the 
revival will have already begun. Let us, therefore, 
briefly consider a few of the chief hinderances to success 
in revival work: 

( I ) The most common and one of the most effectual 
barriers to revival work is the prevailing- U7ibelief of 
the church. Isaiah is not the only prophet of God who 

32 



HINDERANCES TO REVIVALS. 33 

has found occasion to exclaim in view of apparent fail- 
ure, "Who hath beHeved our report?" The want of a 
Hving, active, energetic faith on the part of the church 
is the greatest obstacle to success that confronts the 
ministers of Christ everywhere, in all ages. This is a 
matter of fact not only as it relates to the eternal veri- 
ties of religion generally, but it is especially true as it 
relates to belief in the reality and attainability of the 
special blessing and revival needed. It has been well 
and truly said that, "if we would have a revival, we 
must have a faith in the specific thing, not a vague 
general notion of we know not what. Here is the 
starting point; this is the means of all other means, 
standing in the relation of parent to the rest." And 
yet how often it is the case that, throughout the church, 
the ministry not excepted, there is a practical skepti- 
cism concerning the present possibility of a revival, 
which is like a stone upon the well's mouth that must 
be rolled away before the sweet and fertilizing waters 
can be brought forth! This spirit of unbelief must be 
overcome or every effort will end in utter defeat and 
discouragement. 

(2) A spirit of worldliness in the church is 
another effectual barrier to revivals. A secular spirit 
is doing more in our day to diminish the power of the 
church for its mission of evangelizing the nations than 
any other evil which has gained a foothold within her 
sacred enclosure. The first great declension of the 
church resulted from her violation of her betrothal 
vows to Jesus Christ, the heavenly Bridegroom, and 
playing the harlot with the kings of the earth, whereby 
she enriched herself with worldly goods and arrayed 

3 



34 REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK. 

herself with worldly pomp and glory at the sacrifice of 
her spiritual purity and power. A similar spirit prevails 
in a large degree throughout Christendom to-day. 
" Adopting worldly maxims, catering to worldly tastes, 
corrupted by worldly leaven, there has been a gradual 
letting down of the standard of New Testament piety, 
and a constant effort to robe the gospel in worldly 
charms, in order to attract worldly men to the church. 

^ y^ 4^^ -f^ ^ y^ 

"These worldly expedients have proved very success- 
ful in secularizing the church, but have sadly failed in 
evangelizing the world. They do not even draw the 
people except so far and so long as their novelty attracts 
curiosity seekers, or feeds the morbid appetite for ex- 
citement. It is time all such measures were abandoned 
as helps to the work of evangelization. They are 
rather hinderances; for they destroy the peculiar charac- 
ter of God^s people as a separate people, they divert 
attention from eternal things, and they grieve the 
Spirit of God, on whose presence all power depends." * 

(3) Another common but by no means ineffectual 
hinderance to revivals is that of dissensions in the 
church. It was not until the members of the infant church 
"were all with one accord and in one place" that the 
Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit came upon 
them. When they had reached the point of absolute 
"accord," the Comforter was ^^ suddenly'''* manifested 
and "they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and 
began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave 
them utterance." But such effusions of the Spirit are 



* Arthur T. Pierson, D. D., Evangelistic Work, pp. 92-94. 



HINDERANCES TO REVIVALS. 35 

never bestowed upon a church that is rent by strifes, 
bickerings and divisions. The Spirit of God, without 
whose presence a revival is impossible, always shuns 
scenes of strife, and delights to manifest himself and 
bestow his grace where "brethren dwell together in 
unity." Divisions must be healed and contending 
parties reconciled, if the church would witness a revival 
visitation. 

4. It is a melancholy and humiliating fact that 
sectarian bigotry and rivahy have often hindered or 
seriously marred the work of God in connection with 
revival effort. Mr. Wesley defines bigotry as "too 
strong an attachment to or fondness for, our own party, 
opinion, church or religion," and adds, "therefore he is 
a bigot who is so fond of any of these, so strongly 
attached to them, as to forbid any who cast out devils, 
because he differs from himself in any or all these 
particulars." He also further says, "Examine yourself: 
Do I not indirectly at least forbid him on any of these 
grounds? Am I not sorry that God should thus own 
and bless a man that holds such erroneous opinions? 
Do I not discourage him because he is not of my church, 
by disputing with him concerning it, by raising objec- 
tions, and by perplexing his mind with distant conse- 
quences ? Do I show anger, contempt, or unkindness 
of any sort, either in my w^ords or actions ? Do I not 
mention behind his back, his (real or supposed) faults, 
his defects, or infirmities? Do I not hinder sinners 
from hearing his word? If you do any of these 
things, you are a bigot to this day."* 



* Sermons, Vol. 1, P. 345, 



36 REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK. 

Alas, in how many instances have we seen the work 
of God hindered by the manifestation of such a spirit as 
this! Bigotry is sometimes manifested also by railing 
and denunciation against other religious denominations, 
and by proselyting, and seeking to out-rival others in 
gathering in members and in making a great show of 
success. All these things grieve the Holy Spirit and so 
of necessity hinder the work of God. 

5. Last but not least among the more common 
hinderances to revivals, may be noticed a spirit of light- 
ness^ frivolity and pleasure-seeking among Christians, 
These things are not compatible with true spirituality. 
They grieve the Holy Spirit of God. They give the 
lie to his profession who indulges them. They exert 
a bad influence upon unconverted people. They virtu- 
ally say to the unregenerate, there is no truth in religion; 
it can not satisfy the soul. Nothing is more common 
than for Satan to attempt to forestall or defeat revival 
effort in a church or community by the introduction of 
socials, entertainments, parties, fairs, festivals, or young 
people's literary societies, lyceums, etc., etc., the natural 
and inevitable tendency of which, at such a time,is to 
divert the minds of the people from that deep and seri- 
ous attention to eternal things which is essential to the 
revival of God's work. And, so unspiritual and worldly 
are the masses of professing Christians in our day, that, 
instead of resisting these innovations, they "love to have 
it so." Hence the work of God is hindered by those 
professing to be its friends and helpers. 

Every one who would be successful in promoting 
revivals of religion should learn how to detect the 
principal hinderances to the work, and should, at the 



HINDERANCES TO REVIVALS. 37 

beo^innino^ of his labors in any place, apply himself dili- 
gently and wisely to the task of removing them. 
Otherwise much of his time and effort to promote the 
work will be expended in vain. 



CHAPTER VIL 

Means of Promoting Revivals. 

It is highly important that the minister of Christ 
should settle beforehand the principles of action which 
shall govern him in revival w^ork, determining in his 
moments of calm reflection what is proper and w^hat 
should not be allowed in himself or in others, and then, 
in time of intense excitement, never to be betrayed into 
any course of action which his judgment would disap- 
prove upon mature reflection. As an aid to settling 
these important matters the following remarks concern- 
ing the means to be employed in promoting revivals 
may be found of value: 

I. As to the general character of the means which 
may be legitimately employed to awaken a general 
attention to religious matters, it may be said that they 
should be ( i ) Scriptural. "All Scripture is given by 
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for 
, reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; 
that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly 
furnished unto all good works." No endorsement, 
therefore, should be given to any measures not counte- 
nanced and warranted by the sacred Scriptures. (2) 
Characterized by gospel siiJiflicity, The utmost frank- 
ness should appear in all the measures resorted to for 
carrying on the work.* Trickery and guile are never 
in place, and are always injurious. Duplicitv and arti- 

38 



MEANS OF PROMOTING REVIVALS. 39 

fice are revolting to all intelligent people. (3) Marked 
by sobriety a7zd good oi'der. Religious hilariousness 
and dissipation are always out of place, but they are espe- 
cially objectionable and injurious in revival meetings. 
(4) Such as will be most likely to y^x odiWC^ ^er^nanent 
results. Mere sensationalism may attract gaping 
crowds, and influence some to ''make a start," in the 
religious life; but it is almost invariably followed by a 
reaction which sadly injures the work of God, if it does 
not wholly destroy it. Regard should be had to the 
ultimate consequences of any measure before deciding 
upon its adoption. 

2. The particular means to be employed in pro- 
moting revivals are so numerous that only a few of 
them can be noted here. 

(i) The chief instrumentality to be employed in 
calling men's attention to the business of securing their 
own salvation is that of the earnest and faithful preach- 
ing of the gospel. This is God's own arrangement. 
"For after that, in the wisdom of God the world by 
wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolish- 
ness of preaching to save them that believe." * There 
is a species of revivalism common in our day which 
almost wholly ignores this divine arrangement. Con- 
trary to the word of God, which enjoins that he who 
is sent forth to teach and preach the great truths of the 
gospel should be ''not a novice, lest being lifted up with 
pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil," the 
most inexperienced are put in charge of the work of 
God, and unintelligent harangues, sentimental ditty- 



* 1. Cor. i.21. 



40 REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK. 

singing, tambourine-playing, and general sensationalism 
takes the place of plain, intelligent, sober, earnest, and 
faithful preaching of the gospel. Little of permanent 
value is accomplished in those so-called revivals in 
which the preaching of God's word is ignored or put in 
the background, while much harm is often done. We 
are commissioned to " Go into all the woidd and preach 
THE GOSPEL to eveiy creatiu^e^'^ as a means of saving the 
perishing. "How shall they believe in him of whom 
they have not heard? And how shall they hear with- 
out a preacher?" The chief means, therefore, of call- 
ing men's attention to the matter of their own salvation, 
and so of reviving God's work is the preaching of God's 
word. 

As a fundamental prerequisite to effective revival 
preaching, there must be on the part of the preacher a 
deef^ heart-felt yearning for the salvation of lost nien» 
So Paul was burdened with anxiety for the salvation 
of lost men, when he declared, "My heart's desire and 
prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved," 
and when he "warned men night and day with tears" 
at Ephesus. So Whitefield's heart was burdened when 
he was overheard to cry out in prayer, "Give me souls 
or take my soul." So it was with Alleine, who is said 
to have been "infinitely greedy of the conversion of 
souls;" with Doddridge, who said, "I long for the 
conversion of souls more than for anything else. Me- 
thinks I could not only labor, but die for it with pleas- 
ure;" and with Caughey whose agonizing for souls 
frequently continued during the whole night, to be 
followed by the conversion of scores on the following 
day. When such a spirit gets control of a preacher's 



MEANS OF PROMOTING REVIVALS. 4I 

heart, he will not be long barren in his ministry. 
"Then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners 
shall be converted unto thee." 

Revival preaching should generally be limited in its 
range of subjects to those Scriptural truths and doc- 
trines which are especially adapted to accomplishing 
the specific ends aimed at in the revival effort. One 
needs to use careful discrimination alike in determining 
what to preach and what not to preach on such occa- 
sions. For want of wisdom in this respect many a 
work with a very promising beginning has been sadly 
marred or wholly neutralized. Those ministers whose 
labors have been most abundantly fruitful in perma- 
nent revival influence have generally limited their 
preaching during these times of awakening to the old 
and tried doctrines of the Bible, such as the sovereignty 
of God, the responsibility of man for his own moral 
character, the fall of our race, the utter sinfulness of 
human nature, the atonement, repentance, justification 
by faith, regeneration, sanctification, confession of 
Christ, obedience to God, the resurrection, final judg- 
ment, the rewards of the righteous, the doom of the 
wicked, heaven, hell, — all of which, in fact, are com- 
prised in the three words which were once found writ- 
ten in Rowland Hill's Bible, — "ruin, regeneration, 
redemption." Probably the time will never come in 
the present dispensation when preaching which is lim- 
ited to this range of themes will not be best adapted to 
revival work. Sin and salvation comprise the whole.* 



* CoDcerning the topic now under consideration, pages 326-332 of this 
work are so appropriate that the reader is referred to them in this con- 
nection. 



42 REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK. 

(2) As a further means to promoting revivals of 
religion the social element of the church should be 
utilized and Christian fellowship cultivated. A 
revival is the result of united effort on the part of 
spiritually intensified individuals. ''Where tw^o or 
three are gathered together in my name," said Jesus, 
''there am I in the midst of them." The revival must 
commence with the individual and w^ork socially 
through the church. In our larger tow^ns and cities the 
social element of the church is seldom utilized to spiritual 
advantage as it should be. The cultivation of Chris- 
tian fellov^ship and the cultivation of the social princi- 
ple should be carried on together. It w^as a character- 
istic of the revival which began at Jerusalem on the 
day of Pentecost, that the brethren all "continued in 
fellowship." They banished all strife, envying, jeal- 
ousy and ill-tempers, and cultivated a spirit of kind- 
ness, forbearance, meekness and brotherly love. They 
were bound up in one bundle of love; and so religion 
prospered as it can and will in such circumstances only. 
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren 
to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oint- 
ment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, 
even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of 
his garments; as the dew of Hermon, and the dew that 
descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the 
Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore."* 

(3) Another means to the promotion of revivals, 
and one which should by no means be overlooked, is 
that of Christian liberality in support of religious and 



*P8a. cxxxiii. 



MEANS OF PROMOTING REVIVALS. 43 

benevolent entei'fi'ises, Tliis was a special characteristic 
of the early church during the period of its greatest purity 
and progress.* To the Jewish church God said, "Bring 
ye all the tithes into the storehouse, and prove me now 
herewith, if I w^ill not open the windows of heaven 
and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be 
room enough to receive it."-]* The same principle is 
still in force and until our churches begin to recognize 
it in a more practical and general way, they must con- 
tinue to prove by sad experience that '""they who sow 
sparingly shall also reap sparingly." 

(4) It is not irrelevant to state in this connection 
that the mainte7iance of fropei^ discipline in the 
church is indispensable to the church's continued 
efficiency in promoting revivals of religion. The 
Achans must be detected and so disposed of as to exon- 
erate the church from blame for sanctioning their 
ungodly deeds. The church is the temple of Jehovah 
— a habitation of God through the Spirit. But when 
this temple is defiled by the addition or retention of 
unholy members the divine inhabitant will retire, and 
leave it to the finger of desolation to write Ichabod 
upon its forsaken walls. As well might the priests of 
Israel have expected the symbol of Jehovah's presence 
to have continued resting upon the mercy seat, had all 
the impurities of the sacrificial victims been profanely 
swept into the Holy of Holies, as for a church which 
grossly neglects the maintenance of Scriptural disci- 
pline among its members to look for manifestations of 
revival grace and power in its midst. The leaven of 



* See Acts ii. 44-46. f Mai. iii. 10. 



44 REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK. 

ungodliness must be purged out before God will mani- 
fest his presence and power among his people in any 
marked degree. 

(5) Direct and earnest 'personal effort to win souls 
to Christ should not be overlooked as an efficient aid to 
the promotion of revivals. It is this personal work by 
those who are anxious to save men that is more directly 
effectual in bringing sinners to Christ than anything 
else. Ministers and lay members alike should engage 
in it, if they would see success in any marked degree. 
Our Lord's most efficient ministry was of this charac- 
ter. His discourses to Nicodemus and to the woman 
at the well are instances. His disciples should follow 
their Master in this important matter. The personal 
element is one of tlie most important factors in all gos- 
pel work. Said an eminent clergyman, "All the later 
years of my ministry I have kept a record of the expe- 
rience of those who have united with the church, for 
the purpose of learning the best means of reaching 
men. One of the questions asked was, 'What was the 
instrumentality by which you were brought to Christ?' 
And in almost every case some person was the means." 

In doing this kind of work derelict professors, back- 
sliders, awakened persons, and impenitent sinners 
should be visited personally, and conversed with ear- 
nestly, tenderly, and wisely upon their spiritual and 
eternal interests, with a view to securing their imme- 
diate action in submitting to the claims of God. Such 
labors will often be more eminently blessed of God 
than the most earnest and able preaching which is not 
supplemented by earnest personal effort. 

(6) It should ever be borne in mind that all other 



MEANS OF PROMOTING REVIVALS. 45 

means for the promotion of revivals, to be effectual, 
must be accompanied by prayer a7id fasting. What 
has been said on this topic in discussing the subject of 
Pastoral Piety* is equally applicable in this connection. 
As in the days of Elijah and St. James, so, even now, 
"The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avail- 
eth much." ''There is no way" says President Ed- 
wards, "that Christians in a private capacity can do as 
much to promote the work of God and advance the 
kingdom of Christ as by prayer. By this even women 
and children, and servants may have a public influence. 
A poor man in his cottage may thus have an influence 
all over the world." 

A revival spirit is always "a spirit of grace and 
supplication . "-j- The Lord says, "I will yet for this be 
enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them ; I 
will increase them with men like a flock." J The 
church, then, would she have a revival, must resort to 
earnest, unceasing and importunate prayer, saying like 
Jacob at Peniel, "I will not let thee go except thou 
bless me," thus prevailing first with God, that she may 
have power also to prevail with men. The absence of 
this spirit of prevailing prayer is the generic cause of 
the absence of revivals, and the prevalence of spiritual 
languor and death in the church of God. Moreover, 
as in our Saviour's time so it is now a fact of experi- 
ence in doing the work of God, that certain kinds of 
evil spirits can be overcome only "by prayer and fast- 
ing^'' Few genuine revivals, if any, have ever been 
known but what were born of such soul travail as made 



"pp. 283-288. fZech. xii. 10. |Ezek. xxvi. 37. 



46 REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK. 

those who felt the burden of the work upon them ''for- 
get to eat their bread" in the urgency of their suj^pHca- 
tions before the Lord. Fasting may be carried to the 
extent of vain superstition, and be made an injury ahke 
to mind and body; but fasting in the spirit and manner 
enjoined in Scripture * will always be a means of great- 
ly increasing the church's power with God and with 
men. 



* See Isa. chap. Iviii. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The Pastor in the Revival. 

I. In view of the important relation revivals 
sustain to the general progress of religion every pastor 
should cherish a high estimate of their value, and seek 
by every legitimate means to qualify himself for efficient 
labors in promoting them among the people to whom 
he ministers. That God calls some men to devote 
themselves specially and exclusively to evangelistic 
labors we have no doubt. And that there is a wide 
field and a constant and great demand for the labors of 
such men is readily admitted. But with the idea that 
revival work in our churches generally should be left 
to professional " evangelists" we have no sympathy. 
Every pastor should "do the work of an evangelist" 
within his own parish, if he would "make full proof of 
his ministry. " God has in no way relegated success in 
revival work to any special class of persons. Every 
minister who cherishes a proper estimate of their value, 
and who, in the proper spirit and in the use of the 
proper means, labors for their promotion, may be assured 
that his labor shall not be in vain in the Lord. 



47 



48 REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK. 

2. Among the best qualifications for such work on 
a pastor's part the first in importance is a special 
anointing of the Spirit upon himself — a spiritual quick- 
ening in his own soul — a revival within his own heart. 
Such a spirit will spread like a contagion. Without this 
personal quickening a minister's labors are very likely 
to become more or less perfunctory and mechanical. A 
Pentecostal baptism of the Spirit on the minister will 
generally be followed by a pentecostal awakening 
among the people. Pentecost was the model in this 
respect of every true revival in the church of God. 

3. Moreover it will be of special advantage to the 
pastor who would be wise and efficient in the work of 
winning souls thoroughly to acquaint himself with 
those books which are especially adapted to instructing 
07ie in this department of jniitisterial labor , He will 
find much help in reading the biographies of men who 
have been eminently successful in revival work. He 
should carefully observe their methods of work, and 
the sources of their effectiveness. He should be much 
in communion in his reading with such men as Wesley, 
Whitefield, Edwards, the Tennents, Caughey, Finney, 
Redfield, and numerous others whom God has signally 
blest with success in the evangelistic field. He should 
also make himself familiar with the best literature on 
the subject of revivals. "Every minister," says Dr. 
Etter, ''who wishes to become imbued with the spirit of 
revivals should read such works as Gillies' Historical 
Collections^ Kirk's Lectures on Revivals^ Headley's 
Harvest Work of the Holy Spirit^ Earle's Bringing 
in Sheaves^ Tracy's Great Awakeniitg^ Fisk's Hand- 
Book of Revivals^ Humphrey's Revival Sketches and 



THE PASTOR IN THE REVIVAL. 49 

Manual^ and Thompson's Twies of Refreshing^ It 
may be added also that every minister should repeatedly 
and carefully read Finney's Revival Lectures^ and his 
revival sermons w^hich have been collected and publish- 
de in a volume entitled, Gospel Themes. These are 
excellent specimens of Mr. Finney's revival preaching. 
Caughey's Revival Miscellanies and Rev. J. V. Wat- 
son's v^ork, entitled Helps to the Promotion of Revivals^ 
are also w^orthy of general perusal. 

4. The pastor should consider himself responsible 
J or the general oversight of all revival work in his 
church or parish. As a rule it w^ill be better for him 
to conduct the services and do the preaching, especially 
if the revival began under his own labors. Where 
extra services are protracted a considerable time, how- 
ever, he may be necessitated to secure the assistance of 
others. But let w^ho will be called to his aid, the pastor 
should ordinarily keep the general charge of the w^ork 
in his ow^n hands. He should use his own judgment as 
to the number of meetings, their length, and the gen- 
eral manner of conducting them. He should allow no 
measures to be introduced by others w^hich his own 
judgment disapproves. In fact, w^hile he should be 
humble and unassuming at all times, he should also at 
all tmies let it be seen that he is the pastor of the 
church, and that he considers himself responsible 
before God, not only for what he may teach and do 
himself, but for what he may allow others to teach, 
and do as well. 

5. In carrying on revival work the pastor should 
Mtilize the working talent of his church. It is both 
foolish and injurious for a minister to endeavor to do 

4 



50 REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK. 

all the work himself. Yet there are some who con- 
tinually commit this folly. The non-success of many 
ministers in revival effort is due to their failure to enlist 
the united labors of their people in the cause. A skil- 
ful general is one who wisely organizes and commands 
his soldiers, thereby so uniting and directing their 
movements and operations as to utilize all the elements 
of power at his command to the best advantage. "If a 
minister attempts to go to work alone, calculating to do 
it all himself, it is like attempting to roll a great stone 
up a hill alone. The church can do much to help for- 
ward a revival. Churches have sometimes had power- 
ful revivals without any minister. But when a minister 
has a church who are awake, and knows how to set 
. them to work, and how to sit at the helm and guide 
them, he may feel strong, and often times may find 
that they do more than he does himself, in the con- 
version of sinners."* He should study also to know 
how to keep the people at work as well as how to set 
them at work. 

6. Great wisdom is required of those who would 
engage successfully in revival work in the matter of 
dealing with seekers of religion. This is true both as 
it relates to the measures to be adopted in securing their 
public committal of themselves as seekers, and as to the 
methods to be pursued in leading them to a proper 
exercise of faith in Jesus Christ when the public com- 
mittal has been made. Too vehement and protracted 
urging of sinners to "arise," or "go forward" for prayers 
is unwise. Get more conviction on them and less urg- 



* Finney, Revival Lectures, p. 169. 



THE PASTOR IN THE REVIVAL. 5I 

ing will be needed. In beginning revival services it is 
a common mistake prematurely to press immediateaction 
upon the people who are not yet thoroughly awakened. 
It is better generally to w^ait until some visible signs of 
awakening appear. And it will generally be found 
necessary then to begin with church members who 
have been backslidden at heart and formal in their 
religious profession and work. 

Seekers at the altar or in the inquiry room should be 
guarded against the dis'S'acting conversation and ques- 
tioning of "cranks" and "novices" who are ever ready 
to make themselves officious on such occasions. Nor 
should any be allowed to engage in this department of 
the work except those who are known to the pastor to 
be clear in personal religious experience, acquainted 
with the scriptural plan of salvation, and judicious in 
dealing with inquirers. It is the pastor's duty to select 
his workers for each department of the work, and in no 
other department should he exercise greater wisdom and 
care in this matter than in that now under consideration. 

7. The pastor who would be successful in revival 
work must carefully and diligently study //^^ individual 
condition and necessities of his hearers and adapt his 
preaching accordingly. Random firing brings down no 
game. Sinners must be pursued into their hiding places, 
driven from their intrenchments, and made to feel 
that their false refuges can never afford them protection 
from the swift-winged judgments of God. False pro- 
fessors must be unmasked, and back-slidden professors 
brought to repent and do their first works, lest their 
candle-stick be suddenly removed out of its place. Says 
Finney: '-^A 7ni7iister ought to know the religious 



53 REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK. 

Opinions oj every sinner in his congregation. Indeed^ 
a minister in the country is generally inexcusable if'he 
does not. He has no excuse for not knowing the 
religious views of all his congregation, and of all that 
may come under his influence if he has had opportunity 
to know them. How otherwise can he preach to them? 
How can he know how to bring forth things new and 
old, and adapt truth to their case? How can he hunt 
them out unless he knows where they hide themselves? 
He may ring changes on a few fundamental doctrines, 
on Repentance and Faith and Faith and Repentance, 
till the day of judgment, and never make any impression 
on many minds. Every sinner has some hiding place, 
some intrenchment where he lingers. He is in possess- 
ion of some darling lie with which he is quieting him- 
self. Let the minister find it out and get it away, either 
in the pulpit or in private, or the man will go to hell in 
his sins, and his blood will be found in the minister's 
skirts." * 

8. Common sense is absolutely indispensable in the 
work of winning souls. The want of this often defeats 
the very ends of the Christian ministry. Many good 
men, talented men, educated men may be found in the 
ranks of the ministry who nevertheless lack the com- 
mon sense requisite to win men to Christ. 

9. The wisdom that results from deep and thorough 
personal experience in the things of God is also a fun- 
damental requisite of success in this great work. The 
ministers of Christ should be able to speak from per- 



* Revival Lectures, pp. 190, 191. 



THE PASTOR IN THE REVIVAL. 53 

sonal experience in addressing others on the important 

subject of salvation — to say with Wesley, 

"What we have felt and seen 
With confidence we tell; 
And publish to the sons of men. 
The signs infallible. " 

10. Are we conscious that we lack the requisite 
wisdom to win souls? Do we look back upon past fail- 
ures with sorrow? And in view of our lack and 
our res23onsibilities do we inquire, "Who is sufficient 
for these things?" Let us not despair. There is an 
unfailing source from whence our lack may be supplied. 
For it is written, ''If any of you lack wisdom let 

HIM ASK OF GOD, WHO GIVETH TO ALL MEN LIBERALLY 
AND UPBRAIDETH NOT, AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN 
HIM." * 



* James i. 5, 



CHAPTER IX. 



After the Revival. 



The subject of revival w^ork should not be dis- 
missed w^ithout a brief consideration of those new and 
increased responsibilities v^hich devolve upon the pas- 
tor and his people when the special revival season is 
over, 

I. Much wise and careful management will ever 
be found necessary, at the close of a revival, to prevent 
the ensuing of such a reaction as will undo all the 
good that has beeit accomplished. The human mind is 
so constituted that when a cessation from extraordinary 
mental strain or excitement occurs, it naturally rebounds, 
and settles into a state of comparative stupor. A con- 
dition of general weariness and mental dullness usually 



54 



AFTER THE REVIVAL. 5^ 

succeeds a series of revival meetings, which inclines 
the people to settle into inactivity and lethargy, such as 
is adverse to their grow^th in spirituality and the con- 
tinued intensity of religious life in the church. From 
this reaction numerous other evils occur. A spirit of 
fault-finding and criticism is often begotten. Strifes and 
jealousies are engendered. Revival heat and enthusiasm 
are succeeded by coldness and apathy. Converts ex- 
perience unlooked-for temptations, and, in some in- 
stances yield to discouragement, w^hile in other cases they 
give v^^ay to doubts and fears. Some, who were only 
stony-ground hearers, turn away from the gospel and 
bring reproach upon the cause of Christ. There is 
always danger that the church as a whole may suffer 
a relapse, and so '' the last state thereof become worse 
than the first." The pastor who does not take the 
precaution wisely to guard against this general reaction 
from the excitement of the revival, will be likely to see 
such distraction and declension as will give him much 
sorrow, and tend to lower his estimate of the value of 
revivals, or destroy his faith in them altogether. 

How to guard against these unfavorable conse- 
quences most successfully can not be stated in any rule 
that will apply universally. The circumstances of 
each particular church or community will have to be 
considered in determining this, and the pastor will have 
to use his own judgment in determining what meas- 
ures are best adapted to the necessities of each paiticu- 
lar case. 

As a general rule it will be found an excellent pre- 
ventive of unhealthful reaction to organize and ^lan 
for continued^ systematic and energetic gospel work^ 



56 REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK. 

in which old and young alike shall be regularly em- 
ployed, and the revival spirit be perpetuated and turned 
to the most practical account, instead of being allowed 
to subside and be followed by a general decline. One 
of the best ways to keep converts from backsliding and 
church members from becoming formal and fossilized 
is constantl}' to give them something to do. 

The increased and intensified spiritual life produced 
by a revival, as also the increased membership of the 
church and attendance upon its services, should be util- 
ized by the pastor in more aggressive and effective 
measures for the prosecution of all the various depart- 
ments of the work. Wherever practicable mission 
work should be opened up. Nothing better conduces 
to the conservation of revival influence than this. 
Plans for benevolent and charitable work should also 
be devised and carried into execution. In larger towns 
and cities arrangements for the systematic visitation of 
the sick, and those who are in prison, will be found 
both practicable and profitable. Visiting committees 
to secure recruits for the Sabbath-school may also be 
employed to good advantage. Missionary bands or 
societies should be formed, and as many as possible, of 
the young especially, should be enlisted in the cause of 
Home and Foreign Missions. In all these activities 
of the church the pastor should be the leading spirit — 
the organizer, the commander-in-chief, the confidential 
adviser, the helper and friend of all. 

2. No greater responsibility devolves upon a Chris- 
tian pastor in connection with after-revival work than 
that which relates to the frofer instruction and train- 
ing of young converts. There is a great disproportion 



AFTER THE REVIVAL. 57 

between the number of conversions reported amono^ 
our churches annually, and the ultimate results so far 
as increase of church membership is concerned. This, 
of course, is due partly to other causes, but may we 
not justly believe that the principal occasion of this dis- 
appointing and discouraging fact is the want of proper 
nursing extended to young converts? They are but 
"babes in Christ" — uninstructed, weak, and full of 
doubts and fears. And as well might we expect a 
babe left to itself to live and flourish, as to expect a 
young convert to make spiritual progress without care- 
ful and proper nursing. " Feed my lambs " was our 
Lord's twice uttered command to the apostle Peter. 
And surely this work is as much the duty of every 
pastor, and of the Church generally, as of the great 
apostle. And every revival of religion under a minis- 
ter's labors places him under greatly increased respon- 
sibility in this respect. It is as important to keep men 
converted as to get them converted. In fact, it is more 
important to take care of those who have been gathered 
unto Christ than to secure more at the neglect of those 
already within the fold. 

( [ ) A goodly proportion of the ^^i^tor'^s^ preaching 
aftei" a revival should be adapted to the instruction and 
encouragement of converts. They need to be thor- 
oughly indoctrinated with the great essential truths *of 
Christianity. They should be urged and assisted to a 
thorough acquaintance with the Bible, and taught to 
reverence its authority and practice all its precepts. 
They need to be taught concerning, and fortified 
against, those devices of Satan whereby he has been 
most successful in overthrowing young Christians. 



5S REVIVALS AND REViVAL WORK. 

They should .be thoroughly instructed respecting the 
essential nature of true religion — that it consists not in 
profession, church-membership, works, the observance 
of ordinances, sacraments, and ceremonies, in ecstatic 
frames and feelings, or in any external appearances; 
but in the love of God shed abroad in the heart by the 
Holy Ghost, and manifested by obedience to all God's 
commandments. 

They should be taught that the duty of self-denial 
is one of the leading features of the New Testament 
religion, and shown wherein true self-denial consists 
and may be practiced. They should be diligently in- 
structed concerning the doctrine and experience of 
sanctification, and not only urged on, but led on into 
the experience. Nothing else will so fortify them 
against backsliding, and conduce to stability of charac- 
ter and usefulness in service, as this. They should also 
be taught that the great end for which God has saved 
them is that they may diligently and effectively serve 
him in labors for the salvation of others, and should 
also be instructed as to how they may win souls, and so 
be of that number that "shall shine as the brightness of 
the firmament, and as the stars forever and ever." 
"The great object for which Christians are converted 
and left in this world," says Finney, "is to pull sinners 
out of the fire. If they do not effect this they had 
better be dead. And young converts should be taught 
this as soon as they are born into the kingdom." 

(2) It is desirable that the pastor should J or m the 
personal acquaintance of all who are converted under 
his labors^ that by personal intercourse he may the 
more fully gain their confidence, ascertain their diflicul- 



AFTER THE REVIVAL. 59 

ties, Strengthen them against temptation, and encourage 
them to renewed efforts when in trial or discouragement. 
This, however, will often be found impracticable. 
What, then, aside from the stated instructions of the 
pulpit, can be introduced to make up in some measure 
for the pastor's inability to give frequent personal 
instruction and aid to those who have been converted in 
the revival? 

Two things will be found invaluable aids to pastoral 
work in this respect, (a) The selectioii and appointment 
of experienced and covipeteiit perso?is to be leaders of 
bands or classes formed from among the yozc?zg con- 
vei'ts. These leaders thus become assistant pastors, 
and may greatly lighten the minister's burdens, aid the 
newlv converted, and help to build up the church of 
God. In the economy of Methodist churches, the sys- 
tem of class meetings, and of probationary membership, 
is admirably adapted to this end, and may answer every 
purpose. But where no such order is prescribed by the 
discipline of the church, the wise pastor can easily im- 
provise a system suited to the needs of his church and 
people. (<5) The circulation of wholesome religious 
literature. The Scriptural injunction, "Give attention 
to reading," should be constantly urged upon all, and 
especially upon young, Christians. "Religious reading 
is necssary to make up the complement of that happy 
combination of moral and religious influences that 
should ever be kept, like a life-infusing atmosphere, 
about the young convert." Is not this a source of 
strength which hitherto has not been duly appreciated? 
Is it not a duty also which every pastor owes to the 
church he represents, and to the individual souls 



6o REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK. 

entrusted to his care, to circulate an^ong his people the 
books and periodicals of the church? A faithful per- 
formance of this duty by the pastor will furnish the 
young and inexperienced with much needed instruction 
and help, and will prove an invaluable supplement and 
aid to all his pulpit and pastoral ministrations. 

The practice of the early church in respect to the 
thorough instruction of converts in the principles of 
Christianity, by a system of catechising, has been in 
disuse for ages, and possibly would scarcely be practi- 
cable in the present age. But what ancient pastors 
were accustomed to do personally and verbally in this 
respect, modern pastors may even much more success- 
fully accomplish by the judicious dissemination of pure 
religious literature — if they will. 



CHAPTER X. 



Conclusion. 



How great and imperative is the need of a wide- 
spread and thorough revival of religion! ''Like the 
land of Israel in the days of Elijah the churches are 
withering away for the want of a revival shower. The 
exceptions are rare. All acknowledge these facts with 
regret, and look out and abroad for relief, whether they 
commence to work at home or not. " Well may the 
Church of to-day cry out, as did the prophet Habakkuk 
in the days of Israel's decline, ''O Lord, revive thy 
work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years 
make known; in wrath remember mercy." * 

Moreover, while the need of a revival is so general 
and imperative, God is willing and waiting to shed on 



i(. Chap. iii. 2. 

6i 



62 REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK. 

the church the spirit of revivals in proportion to her 
needs. He says: " I w^ill yet for this be enquired of 
by the house of Israel to do it for them; I w^ill increase 
them w^ith men like a flock." And again: "If ye then, 
being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your chil- 
dren, how much more shall your Father in heaven give 
the. Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" With these 
facts before us, if the church does not experience a 
revival, whose fault will it be? Let every minister and 
every church member ask himself this question. Ami 
in any degree responsible for the church's failure to 
experience a revival of God's work? " Lord, is it I?" 

Every Christian, should be a soul winner. This is 
the great end for which Christians are left on earth after 
their own conversion. They are "the light of the 
world," and "the salt of the earth." And, unless they 
are diligent in their efforts to enlighten and save others, 
their own light will turn to darkness, and their salt 
will lose its savor. , Responsibility rests not only upon 
the church as a whole, but upon every individual mem- 
ber of the same. If the church is to experience a 
revival it must begin with individual members, and 
work outwardly through the church, like the leaven in 
the meal. And it must be perpetuated by the united 
effort of spiritually intensified individuals. How^ great, 
therefore, is the responsibility of every Christian touch- 
ing this important matter? 

Every minister of Christ in particular should have 
faith in revivals and should cherish a high estim.ate of 
their value. He should also be continually imbued 
with the revival spirit. He should study diligently to 
Jcnow the best means of promoting revivals. He 



CONCLUSION. 63 

should be faithful in season and out of season in 
endeavoring to promote them. He should never be 
satisfied with small results, nor with a superficial work. 
He should ever work with eternity in view. He 
should deal faithfully, wisely and lovingly with all the 
subjects of his ministry. He should be able not only to 
win souls, but so to build them up in holy character 
that he may be able at last, to "present every man 
perfect in Christ Jesus." He should alike know how 
to feed both the sheep and the lambs of Christ's fold. 
His whole being should be absorbed in this work. A 
passion for souls should be the ruling passion of his 
life. Like the Master, he should be able to say, "The 
zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." Thus, and thus 
only, can he make full proof of his ministry, and 
"show himself approved unto God, a workman that 
needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word 
of truth." 

And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to 
the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, 
and to make you able ministers of the New Testament. 
And may "the God of peace, that brought again from 
the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the 
sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 
make you perfect in every good work to do his 
will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his 
sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever 
and ever. Amen." 



64 REVIVALS AND REVIVAL WORK, 



LORD, REVIVE US. 

Savior, visit thy plantation. 

Grant us, Lord, a gracious rain; 

All will come to desolation. 
Unless thou return again. 

O revive us, Lord, revive us. 
All our help must come from thee. 

Keep no longer at a distance, 
Shine upon us from on high, 

Lest, for want of thine assistance. 
Every plant should droop and die. 

O refresh us, Lord, refresh us, 
With rich showers of heavenly grace. 

Let our mutual love be fervent 
Make us prevalent in prayers; 

Let each one esteemed thy servant 
Shun the world's bewitching snares. 

O baptize us, Lord, baptize us. 
With thy Spirit from on high. 

Break the tempter's fatal power, 
Turn the stony hearts to flesh; 

And begin from this good hour 
To revive thy work afresh. 

O revive us. Lord, revive us, 
While in Jesus' name we pray. 



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